Dog Days Are Over JosefMick Slash
by Emerald72
Summary: Mick's been in denial for far too long, Josef wants to coax him out of hiding. The dog days will be behind them, once Mick admits the truth. Josef/Mick Slash. Mature Audiences Only.


Title: Dog Days Are Over

Pairing: Josef/Mick

Rating: Low Level NC17

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: Mick's been in denial for far too long, Josef wants to coax him out of hiding. The dog days will be behind them, once Mick admits the truth. Written for the '20 established relationships' prompt on LiveJournal- Past Times. Also written for the Moonlight VampSisters Challenge - Write a fic inspired by a song. (Inspiration taken from the title 'Dog Days are Over' , from the song by Florence and the Machine.)

* * *

Mick stepped into the shower, adjusting the water temperature, and letting the spray beat a steady rhythm along his neck and shoulders. Hands braced against the tiles in front of him he tried not to think about the fight he'd had with Josef, the memory of those ugly sounds, the vicious words they had thrown at one another.

"You can't keep living in the past." Josef had shouted in frustration

"What would you know, you have no idea the pain I have to live with every day," Mick had shot back, his words laced thick with bitter acid, "I have no one, Josef, no one. At least the past gives me something tangible to hold onto. You'll never understand."

_You'll never understand…_

Eighty years of understanding, eighty years of friendship, and trust, and none of it worth a damn, because he would never understand. No matter what, _he_ would never understand. Josef had physically thrown Mick from his house then, dragging Mick to the front door and hurling him out onto the gravel pathway below. A week later Mick had received a phone call. Josef wanted to talk.

Mick stepped out of the shower, towelled himself dry, and began searching for a suitable outfit to wear, finally settling on a pants, and blue shirt combination he knew Josef approved of. For a moment Mick wondered why he felt the need to impress, why he'd always felt the need to impress, dressing for Josef's benefit the way he did, craving the fragmentary compliments Josef bestowed upon him.

_You look good, you been working out? _

He couldn't think about that now. There were other things, more important things. He owed Josef an apology.

A jacket hastily slung over his shoulders, Mick headed out the door. Seconds later he was gunning the engine of his car, and pointing the vehicle towards its destination.

_Gotta face it sometime boy-o…_

… _You can't keep living in the past_

"Fuck!" Mick slammed the steering wheel. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He'd never meant things to become so….

…_Complicated._

Pulling up outside Josef's, Mick took a moment to note how large the place always seemed at night. Several times he'd had to fight the urge to turn around, do what he'd always done.

"Yeah, you're real good at running away from shit, aren't you St John," a little voice in the back of Mick's mind sounded accusingly as he sat and stared out the window of the car.

_Fuck it, time to get this show on the road._

"You're early." Josef greeted Mick's arrival with a polite smile.

"Yeah, I probably should have phoned ahead."

"Doesn't matter."

Josef's movements seemed uncharacteristically stiff as he waved a dismissive hand, and ushered Mick inside. It was so unlike him, so 'un-Josef', Mick thought as he followed Josef's lead along a series of corridors, down to one of the study rooms at the end of the house. Josef always seemed to glide through the world like elegance personified, Mick wasn't sure he wanted to know what was hidden beneath Josef's blanket layer of rigidity. Instead he tried not to notice.

"Here." Josef picked a piece of paper from one of the bookshelves that lined walls of the room, once they'd stepped inside, and handed it to Mick.

"What is it?" Mick gave the paper a cursory glance.

"The title deed to my entire fortune."

"I don't understand," Mick scanned the paper's contents closer, saw his name listed at the top. "Why are you…?"

Mick didn't get a chance to complete his sentence.

"There's nothing to understand, Mick," Josef shrugged, hands in pocket, legs crossed at the ankles, his weight on one hip, a casual pose, affected nonchalance. "All I have to do is sign on the dotted line, and all of this," an encompassing hand gesture and then Josef lock focused his attention, holding Mick's gaze steady with his own, "is yours. All of it."

"But why?" Mick felt his equilibrium shifting, off kilter. He wasn't prepared for this; wasn't expecting this at all. Josef had said he wanted to talk.

Josef was upon him then, his breath fanning hot against the side of Mick's neck as he picked Mick up, and carried him across to the other side of the room in one fluid rush of movement, pressing Mick back against the wall opposite.

"Because I love you. I've always loved you. I loved you the very moment I laid eyes on you," Josef gripped the back of Mick's neck with his hand, dug sharp fingernails into knotted flesh. "So don't you dare tell me you have no one. Don't you dare say that to me again. I exist, Mick, you have me. So don't you dare."

Josef released Mick then, taking a step back, before turning to leave, a cursory, "You can find your own way out," thrown over his shoulder.

Josef was hurt, Mick could tell. "You're wrong you know," Mick called after him reflexively,

"What?" Josef turned heel to face Mick then, adopting a challenging stance. I dare you to speak to me.

"I said you're wrong."

"Oh. And how do you figure that?" Josef scoffed.

"Because the feeling's mutual." The words were out of Mick's mouth, before he had a chance to consider the ramifications.

"I…wow."

Mick appeared not to notice Josef's own shift in equilibrium as he scuffed one foot along the ground, and muttered a hasty "Yeah" under his breath.

"You know I'd always pictured this moment a little differently," Josef sauntered over to an armchair, and sat down. His movements more relaxed, his words delivered with his usual trademark aplomb; clip toned sarcasm dripping from each consonant. "I figured there'd at least be roses, maybe a bottle of wine."

"I'll pick you up a nice bottle of red the next time I come over." Mick took a seat opposite, and snorted a brief laugh.

"I doubt you could afford my tastes." Josef replied matter of fact.

"Probably not," Mick offered Josef a crooked smile, before continuing on. "I'm sorry I never told you. I never expected…"

…_I never expected to fall in love. Not with you, not like this. _

"…it's complicated."

"That's your excuse for everything, Mick." Josef reached for a decanter of Scotch on the table next to him.

"No, thank you," Mick shook his head, and politely refused Josef's offer of a drink, watching as Josef poured a measure for himself. "It wasn't supposed to be this way you know."

Mick averted his eyes for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

"Oh," Josef threw back a few quick mouthfuls of Scotch, and then challenged Mick direct. "And how is it supposed to be, exactly?"

"I've lost everyone I've ever loved," Mick gestured plaintively, as he tried to make Josef understand, "Coraline, Beth. As soon as I let someone in, they're taken from me; you've seen it yourself. So yeah, I live in the past. It gives me something tangible to hang onto, it feels…"

"…Safe?"

"Yes."

Josef swirled the glass in his hand, and took another swig of the amber liquid. "Safety's overrated."

"Since when?" Mick shifted in his seat, and eyed Josef warily, "You're one of the most safety conscious, paranoid Vampires I've ever met."

"I meant when it comes to love." Josef threw back the remainder of his drink, and then studied Mick's expression with a curious eye. "You think you're cursed, is that it? 'Cause I know someone…"

"…Figures," Mick remarked drily. _  
_  
"Touché."

"I thought you invited me over to talk?" Mick ignored Josef's burlesque.

"Well our mouths are moving, there's sound coming out," Josef arched a facetious eyebrow, and chortled with amusement, "I'd call that 'talking'."

"Yeah, after you decided to drop a bombshell on me."

"It worked didn't it?" Josef poured another tumbler of Scotch, and handed it to Mick, "Here."

Refusing Josef's hospitality once was acceptable, twice and he'd be bordering on rude. Mick hesitated a moment, and then took the glass from Josef's hand.

"Thanks."

For the longest time it seemed as if nobody spoke. Mick had a chance to think then. He'd always enjoyed the silence between them, the spaces in-between the words where love existed without complication.

And then Josef was getting to his feet, and gesturing for Mick to do the same.

"Stand up."

Another moment's hesitation, and Mick did as he was told, placing his empty Scotch glass on the ground next to him.

"So what now?" Mick tried to appear casual, unperturbed that Josef had just stepped into his space, and drawn an arm around his neck.

"You killed Coraline," Josef ignored Mick's attempt at nonchalance, and leant forward to place a series of kisses along Mick's throat. "Beth died of natural causes…"

"…What's your point?" Mick bit back a groan, as Josef's hand went to the zipper on his jeans.

"Well you're not planning on killing me, I would hope," Josef lowered Mick's zipper, undid the button on Mick's pants, "and considering I'm immortal I doubt I'll be dropping off the perch from natural causes any time soon, so…"

Josef let the rest of his sentence hang in the air between them.

"It's not that simple, Josef." Mick stifled another groan as Josef slipped a hand inside his boxer shorts, and took hold of his cock. They'd been here before; sex was nothing new between them. It was something physical, something that had always felt 'safe'; no pesky emotions getting in the way.

"Oh," Josef smiled, noting the way Mick rocked back and forth on his heels as he stroked a steady rhythm along Mick's length, "do you want me to stop then?"

"No." Mick bit down on his lower lip, and shook his head, remembering again how physicality had always felt safe; a retreat into a world sans emotion.

And still the voice in the back of Mick's mind whispered to him,

_Gotta face it sometime boy-o_…

…_You can't keep living in the past._

Josef manoeuvred Mick over to a desk against the opposite side wall of the room, spun Mick around, pressed Mick face forward.

"Give me one good reason why our emotions shouldn't come into any of this, Mick?" Josef tugged at Mick's jeans. He'd already made Mick's measure; the moment Mick confessed his feelings he'd seen the words written all over Mick's face.

_Warning, danger zone, emotions ahead; abandon all hope ye who enter here…_

"I can't answer that." Mick felt his lower garments being slung around his knees, listened to the sound of Josef doing the same with his own.

"Can't, or won't?"

"Both."

Josef spat into the palm of his hand; hurriedly slicked the length of his cock with an application of saliva. And then he was pressing himself against Mick's hole, penetrating Mick's space, slowly.

"Tell me that you love me.'

Mick dug his fingernails into the desk's wooden. It was good; it had always been good between them, this was the way it was supposed to be; no emotions, just raw, hard fucking, the both of them coming like freight trains at the end, sinking their fangs into each other's flesh.

"I can't."

"Bullshit." Josef began a steady rhythm of thrust, and withdraw; his hands locked around Mick's wrists, holding Mick in place.

Mick tried to plead for consideration then, found the words wouldn't come out the way he wanted them to, gave up, and then tried again.

"I'm not Beth, or Coraline, Mick," Josef reached a hand underneath Mick's body; "I'm not going to up and leave you the moment you admit the truth."

"You don't know that," Mick managed to stammer in-between sensations, as Josef took hold of his cock.

"Neither do you, Houdini," Josef quick witted in return

Mick didn't have time to consider Josef's words. Houdini? Was that a reference to all the disappearing acts he'd pulled over the years? Mick wasn't sure, couldn't think straight; already the first stirrings of an impending orgasm were curling from the base of his spine; soon he wouldn't be able to think at all.

"Alright, I love you," in the moments before he slipped over the edge, Mick made his confession. Clench teethed, and blurted as it was.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Josef grinned, and thrust forward one last time, falling into his own protracted orgasm then, his fangs sunk deep into the top of Mick's shoulder.

They lay on the floor together when it was over. Josef drew Mick to him, wrapped his arms around Mick's shoulders.

"Nothing's changed between us, Mick."

"Yeah, it has." There was no recrimination in the sound of Mick's voice, just a simple statement of fact.

"You'll get used to it," Josef kissed the top of Mick's head.

Mick shifted position. Josef was right; nevertheless Mick had never imagined the night would end like this. Not in his wildest dreams, not when he'd first set out. They'd started something together, what exactly Mick wasn't sure_.  
_  
_The dog days are over._

Mick smiled at that thought, it seemed right, apt somehow. He settled back into Josef's arms.

_The dog days were over..._

_...and happiness was about to hit him like a freight train._


End file.
